The Raider-class corvette is the Empire's response to the need for a designated anti-fighter vessel.
The Imperial Raider Expansion Pack brings this ship’s six, accurate dual heavy laser cannons to Star Wars: Armada, where its utility against snubfighters and the disruptive effects of its ion cannon emplacements, along with the efficiency of its localised command, make it a powerful addition to any Imperial fleet. In addition to its pre-painted, small-base Raider miniature, this expansion introduces eight upgrade cards, a command dial, speed dial, and all requisite tokens.
A Dedicated Anti-Fighter Warship
Conceived by Lira Wessex, the designer of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, as a small and aggressive assault vessel that could reinforce the TIE fighter squadrons deployed by its larger Star Destroyer cousins, the Raider-class corvette is a durable, 150m vessel that features multiple hardpoints and excels at suppressing Rebel fighter attacks.
Fighter squadrons can play one of two primary roles in Armada, which developer Max Brooke noted in his strategy article about squadrons, "Bomber Wings and Fighter Screens." Bomber wings can quickly rip through enemy ships, while fighter screens are designed to engage bombers and keep them from your larger ships. Because bomber wings can be so brutally effective unless they run into screens of TIE fighters, TIE interceptors, or A-wings, and because those fighter screens are not terribly effective in combats when there are no fighters for them to engage, your investment in fighter squadrons is always something of a calculated gamble.
As a dedicated anti-fighter warship, the Raider-class corvette offers Imperial fleet admirals a chance to hedge their bets. Whether you use it to support a bomber wing, to reduce your investment in your fighter screen, or to replace your fighter screen altogether, the Raider is extremely fast, accurate, and well-suited to fighter suppression in ways that the Empire's other capital ships are not.
Meanwhile, the Instigator serves as a shield between your opponent's fighters and the rest of your fleet. In fact, because it can engage enemy squadrons, it can, in most ways, replace the need for a fighter screen, especially when it's further outfitted with Quad Laser Turrets and Ordnance Experts . These upgrades enhance the threat the ship poses to enemy squadrons by granting it both counter 1 and the ability to reroll any number of its black attack dice; the Raider I-class Corvette has two black dice in its anti-squadron armament.
Finally, because the Raider is relatively inexpensive, it's not inconceivable that you'd run both the Impetuous and the Instigator in the same fleet, using them to pincer your opponent's squadrons, locking them into position by engaging them with the Instigator, and blasting through them with multiple shots from the Impetuous.
This is not a complete game experience. A copy of the Star Wars: Armada Core Set is required to play.
